System, method and computer-accessible medium for quantifying fdg uptake on pet

Abstract

The increasing use of molecular imaging probes as biomarkers in oncology can emphasize the need for robust and stable methods for quantifying tracer uptake on PET. A histogram-based system, method and computer-accessible procedure can be used to calculate a new tracer uptake metric and the background subtracted lesion activity.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer-accessible medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for determining at least one characteristic of at least one tissue, wherein, when a computer arrangement executes the instructions, the computer arrangement is configured to perform procedures comprising:
 receiving first information related to a volume of interest (VOI) of the at least one tissue;   receiving second information related to a histogram based on the at least one tissue;   determining a Gaussian fit of the histogram; and   determining the at least one characteristic of the at least one tissue by at least partially subtracting or removing the Gaussian fit from the VOI.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 1 , wherein the Gaussian fit is over a peak of the histogram. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 1 , wherein the computer hardware arrangement is further configured to determine the histogram based on voxels of the VOI as a function of a standard uptake value of the at least one tissue. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 1 , wherein the computer hardware arrangement is further configured to bin the histogram based on a Freedman-Diaconis rule. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 4 , wherein a width of the bin is ΔSUV fd =2 IQR(VOI) N −1/3 , where ΔSUV fd  is a [ 18 F]-Fluorodeoxyglucose standard uptake value, IQR(VOI) is an interquartile range (VOI), and N is a number of voxels in the IQR(VOI). 
     
     
         6 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one tissue is a tumor. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one characteristic is a tumor activity. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 7 , wherein the tumor activity is a background subtracted lesion activity (BSL). 
     
     
         9 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one characteristic is a tracer uptake metric. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 1 , wherein the computer hardware arrangement is further configured to determine a mean BSL based on a mode of the histogram. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 10 , wherein the Gaussian fit is over a region defined by SUV BG ±SUV V     max     /2 , where SUV BG  is the mean BSL standard uptake value (SUV) and SUV V     max     /2  is an SUV of histogram bins located at a half maximum of the mode. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 11 , wherein the computer hardware arrangement is further configured to (i) set all negative values to zero, and (ii) subtract the Gaussian fit from the histogram based on the zero values. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 1 , wherein the computer hardware arrangement is further configured to generate the second information using positron emission tomography. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 1 , wherein the computer hardware arrangement is further configured to generate at least one image of the at least one tissue based on the at least one characteristic. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 1 , wherein the computer hardware arrangement is further configured to receive a selection of the VOI. 
     
     
         16 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 15 , wherein the VOI is selected by a user. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 1 , wherein the computer hardware arrangement is further configured to approximate background data in the histogram as a normal distribution. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 1 , wherein the VOI is a total VOI. 
     
     
         19 . A method for determining at least one characteristic of at least one tissue, comprising:
 receiving first information related to a volume of interest (VOI) of the at least one tissue;   receiving second information related to a histogram based on the at least one tissue;   determining a Gaussian fit of the histogram; and   using a computer hardware arrangement, determining the at least one characteristic of the at least one tissue by at least partially subtracting or removing the Gaussian fit from the VOI.   
     
     
         20 . A system for determining at least one characteristic of at least one tissue, comprising:
 a computer hardware arrangement configured to:
 receive first information related to a volume of interest (VOI) of the at least one tissue; 
 receive second information related to a histogram based on the at least one tissue; 
 determine a Gaussian fit of the histogram; and 
 determine the at least one characteristic of the at least one tissue by at least partially subtracting or removing the Gaussian fit from the VOI.